Enough Pt. 4-Finale (Cont.)

“You sick bastard!” Linden snapped, still holding Samson by the collar of his shirt. “You kill all those girls and you have the balls to sit there, to sit there and say shit like that?!”

            Jenner placed an arm on Linden’s and very slowly, he started to relax. He released Samson and eased back into his seat, still huffing under his breath.

            Samson remained just as calm and merely sniffed, but the blood continued to trickle out from his nose. It grew darker as it made its way to the collar of his gray sweatshirt and Jenner tore her eyes away.

            “Let’s cut to the chase.” Jenner swallowed as she straightened in her seat. “Greg, is it?

            “Greg.”

            Jenner held Linden back as he prepared to launch himself at Samson again.

            “Greg. You are being accused of the vicious murders of over eight victims and that is just in our small town alone. Says in this report that as you were being dragged away from the scene you were asked why you did it.”

            Samson nodded. “Yes. Yes I was.”

            “May I ask what you said?”

            Samson nodded. “I said that it’s about time you all caught me. I said it was about time and that my only regret is not doing more.”

            In that moment, two things flashed in Jenner’s mind. First, the image of Beckett’s face, her shining eyes. Suddenly, Jenner realized what it was that she lacked. Through it all even as she was being pulled back, as she stared up at Samson’s fist heading toward her face it was that same look had appeared in her eyes. Acceptance, that’s what it was. Jenner had spent her whole life hating every single thing about it. She was proud of all she had accomplished, proud of her job but her past, she had never gotten past it. She had never been able to accept her sorry excuse for a childhood or her family’s terrible dynamic. But here was the girl, this Nadine Beckett flashing in her mind with that look and it screamed acceptance. There she was being pulled back by the roots of her hair and there she was accepting it still. The fist sailed toward her and there were Samson’s firm hands wrapping around her neck and squeezing. Even still there was that look, strong as ever. Beckett had known she was going to die all along. She knew her time was numbered and yet she didn’t die holding that grudge. That was what lead Jenner to the second thing flashing in her mind.

 It became clear then why the word “hero” had been burning in the back of her mind. That was what everything levelled down to the biggest realization of them all. Was Nadine Beckett a hero? That was the ultimate question. Staring into the eyes of not just her murderer but countless others, proved one simple answer. She was. Nadine Beckett, the sweet, sixteen year old girl with the shining blue eyes was a hero. She did not survive her attacker but because of her video, because she had crawled on her aching hands and knees to reach the computer, Gregory Samson was captured.

            Nadine knew she was going to die, Jenner realized. She knew her death was inevitable and yet, instead of accepting her fate, instead of struggling to take on Samson, she had chosen to get the word out.

            If that’s not a hero, Jenner thought as she looked into Samson’s eyes, I don’t know what is. 

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